3 Review(s)

In this work, McNay argues that feminism has something to gain from a careful reading of Foucault's work and that, in turn, the concerns of feminist analysis can shed light on some of the limitations of his work. Providing an account of the development of Foucault's work the author then concentrates on his later writings, where he elaborates an original theory of the self. McNay aims to show how Foucault's work on the self can be used to counter certain tendencies in feminism, such as the tendency to treat women as passive victims of systems of oppression. However, McNay argues that there are also significant shortcomings in Foucault's writings, particularly with regard to normative and political questions. Re-examining Foucault's ambivalent relation to Enlightenment thought, she tries to show how this relation underlies some of the most significant ambiguities and unresolved tensions in his work.